What Is A Dex Cool And More About It

A dex-cool is antifreeze that is used to keep the water in your truck’s engine from freezing. However, it also keeps your car’s engine cool by minimizing the possibility of the water in your engine from overheating. Hence, the dex cool serves two purposes in your car.

The dex-cool mixes with water in the engine cooling system so as to raise the boiling point as well as brings down the freezing point of the system. Hence, by adding the dex cool to your truck’s cooling system, one can raise the temperature of a car can run before just before the cooling system boils.

The cool dex is an alcohol-based additive which comes in different colors such as green, orange, blue and red. It also consists of Ethyl Glycol.

Why Do You Require A Dex Cool?

It is important to have a dex cool in your car since it is needed to reduce the freezing point of your truck’s engine system as well as raise the temperature at which the engine systems boil when compared to using water alone.

Water’s boiling point is 100-degrees Celsius. The allowed pressure range for a truck’s radiator is normally between 75-100kPa and when the dex cool is mixed with water, the boiling point is increased to 120-126-degrees C. Hence, by adding the dex cool to the water, you end up changing the ratio to fifty-five percent and this increases to 125-130-degrees C.

If you reside in cold areas where the temperatures drop (especially in winter) below the freezing point, then the allowed ratio of dex cool to water is 60 to 40. Hence, increasing the amount of the antifreeze in the engine’s system will lower down its protective qualities.

Therefore, with sixty percent dex cool in the system, the temperature at which the ice crystals will start to form at the engine’s cooling system is at fifty-five degrees Celsius.

With no the dex cool in the system, the ice crystals will start to form at zero degrees Celsius. Allowing the engine’s cooling system to freeze will the fluid will expand as well as crack engine blocks and split the radiator apart.

Why You Should Not Use Water Only As A Coolant Or Antifreeze.

It is not advisable to use water only as a coolant or antifreeze. The idea of using the dex cool in your truck’s engine is to raise the boiling point of the water being pumped into your vehicle’s engine and via the radiator where the air flows through in a moving truck’s radiator lowers the water’s temperature as it continues on its way back via the engine.

Depending on where you live, your car’s engine water will either be softer or harder than somewhere else. All the water has dissolved minerals and salts which if using straight water in your engine system can decrease the life of some of your car’s components.

In colder climates, using water without mixing with the dex cool means that the engine’s cooling system will end up freezing to zero degrees Celsius. And when the water freezes to solid it expands leading to burst radiators as well as cracked engine blocks.

Watch video to know Why Coolant / Antifreeze Is Better Than Water

Why Does The Dex Cool Come In Different Colors?

The dex cool comes in different colors such as blue, red, orange and green. All these colors refer to the kind of inhibitor technology. The green dex cool bottle is inorganic which includes rust protectors and inhibitors to prevent corrosion of components in the engine system.

The color of the dex cool can be blue, or red, or orange depending on the model and make of your car and whether it is from Europe, Japan or USA.

Can One Mix Different Types of Dex Cool?

The answer to this question is NO. Mixing different kinds of dex cool can result in damage to your car’s engine system. Combining two different kinds will cause the two liquids to gel in the engine’s cooling system. The recommended method to work out which one is suitable is to look inside your car’s owner manual.

The manual should suggest to you the optimum ratio mix. Sometimes, the recommended ratio of water to dex cool is fifty to fifty or sixty to forty. One is not allowed to use newer dex cool in older vehicles and vice versa.

How To Check If The Dex Cool Is Healthy?

You will need to have the dex cool liquid in your truck’s engine flushed as well as replaced often. And due to its importance, it is recommended you always check on the condition of the fluid. Hence, pop the bonnet, search for your coolant bottle and take out the lid.

Sniff the fluid, and if it smells burnt and hot, you have to flush and replace it with new dex cool. Also, you will have to look and find out what resulted to your system to increase in temperature by taking your truck to the mechanic.

Also, if you find out that the fluid looks a little milky, then it means that some oil has got into the engine’s system through transmission cooler or a head gasket or the intake manifold. In case this happens, it can destroy your vehicle’s engine. It is recommended you take your car to the mechanic as soon as possible.

Ideally, the dex cool should look vivid green as well as feel slippery like oil. In case the fluid feels gritty to touch, then you have to flush and replace the fluid mix so as to prevent rust within the cooling system which could make the water pump to stop and overheating the engine.

Conclusion

Always, have a spare coolant or antifreeze liquid in your car. This is important since it helps in cooling down overheated engine as well as heats up a cold engine. Also, always check the condition of your engine cooling system to prevent it from being destroyed.